I love the tram and metro system of Brussels; it was probably our favourite part about living there. The RER has a lot of potential, but they really need to run more frequently. I really hope they can make that a reality. The one thing they need to improve though is the ticketing. It's a very dated system. And I hate the double fare gates! The last time I was there I got stuck in one due to some kind of malfunction and I needed to call for a staff member to get me out! Eventually I'm going to have to get back to Brussels for long enough to make a proper video about all the changes that have happened there since we left in 2013. There are still WAY too many cars, but things have improved substantially!
Biggest brake to improvement right now is : we're basically broke and our governance model is a waking nightmare. But I hope you can add your voice to our issues, influence things a little. Mostly we're still catering way too much to commuters from outside the city. The slightest inconvenience in the form of modal filters and all hell ensues. It's tiring when at the same time the EU chastises us for lagging behind on emissions. Also the 2025 tightening of the LEZ that's been postponed even though it's been coming for almost a decade. Please roast our leadership 🙏
tbh everything has improved since covid a 12 eur pass for ppl that are under 25 and students new tram lines extensions new metros ( automated but not really) new bus stations and lanes way more bike lanes ( Rue de la Loi and others are transformed ) New bike bridge in 4 places (from Wollue to Tervuren) more temporary bikes vilo that are now all electric ( but that whole deal was a corrupt contract ) metro 3 ( kind of sketchy deal behind it again)
I disagree with you. In the past it was a nightmare, yes. I was a student and oh god I hated renewing the subscription (I had to do both Brussels transports and train). They wanted stupid forms you had to partially complete yourself, then your school had to complete a part too, etc. It took like at least a week to renew it. And for regular tickets, you couldn't buy them online But right now, if you have a phone or a card that works with NFC, you can just "beep" it at the gates. You pay 2.2€ per "beep", and you can pay 4 times, after that it's free
I am not sure what you mean by the double fair gates. Those do exist for people in wheelchairs and strollers. But are not meant to be used as a standard. The normal fair gates you can't really get stuck in. Even the double-gated ones, which in most cases work perfectly fine, when something does go wrong, people in the station are often willing to just scan you out. And when it comes to the ticketing, the system has changed a lot. You can now use your Mobib for all MIVB/STIB SNCB/NMBs DeLijn, Tec if you have the Brussels XL subscription. Otherwise, you can always pay via your bank card, and it is capped at 8 euros a day for MIVB/STIB. There are too many cars, fully agree with that, but as someone from Brussels myself, in your video in Rotterdam you also talk about Brussels, you seem to have had a bad experience living here back in the day and just written it off entirely. If you come back, I would love to show you around at show a lot of the changes that we have made, just like the tour of Montreal that you posted. We are not Amsterdam neither in bicycle culture nor in housing prices, so instead of dwelling on your experience from back when you lived here which clearly wasn't favourable, give it another try, there have been many improvements.
Something you may have missed, but literally today was the inauguration of a new tram line 10 towards the north of the city, replacing the current tram line 3 in the north-south premetro tunnel (revenue service starts monday). The tram network itself is expanding just as well, and at a much quicker pace than the metro. The metro extension has it's fair share of troubles, sadly enough.
@@RMTransit While we're talking about stuff you missed, the Brussels North-Brussels South tunnel ("North-South Connection" or "Line 0") is the busiest line in Belgium and the busiest railway tunnel in the world with 1200 trains a day running on 6 tracks. Good video though. Edit: While I'm at it, the RER/GEN is a bit of a recurring joke at the moment. The long term plan was reportedly to have 4 to 5/h running (I've even heard 6 at some point) but I'll believe it when I see it, especially given how busy some of the railways they take are. The aforementioned Line 0 has 6 RER lines running through it (S1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10) meaning an additional 24 trains going through the busiest tunnel in the world. Not sure how they'll achieve that...
As a Belgian, thank you ! I hope our country is going back in the direction of great transit like it used to be with trains going to every cities and interurban trams going in every villages and small towns (SNCV/NMVB) of the country. I wish we'd build back those tracks in rural areas with modern tram-trains. The kusttram that you covered, aswell as the Charleroi metro, were part of this giant interurban network
I live here and people tend to complain whereas we have a pretty solid network (plus STIB has a funny modern way of handling social networking). I have 2 tram and 4 bus lines within 5 min from home. Service starts early, ends late, runs frequent. Transfers aren't bad. Metro stations are old and very "eighties" in the concrete and color schemes. What's really insulting though are the train station. Brussel South is absolutely shameful in so many ways.
I grew up in an area with almost no public transit and then studied abroad in Brussels in college because the woman I had a crush on was doing so...errr, I mean, because I had heard about all of its beauty and historic significance. Yeah, that's it 😂. Seriously, the woman gave me the let's just be friends speech well before the study abroad semester, but I ended up falling in love with public transportation in Brussels. It was fascinating to me that I could get from one side of the city to the other underground in a short time. Planning the best route to get somewhere by public transport before Google Maps existed was a challenge I happily accepted. And trains and trams were just so much fun to be on. It's a love I still have to this day :). When I was there in 1998, the numbering was much different. The metros were numbered 1a (from the SE side of town, through the central area, to the Atomium area on the NW), 1b (from the E side of town to the SW, sharing track with the 1a through the center), and 2 (the loop around the center, except it wasn't a loop yet because the last bit on the northwest side of the loop hadn't been built yet.) The metro stations didn't yet have screens telling you how long it would be until the next train arrived; you just had to wait. Trams that went through the Premetro didn't get low numbers; for example, I frequently took what was then the 23 route through the eastern Premetro as the family I was staying with lived on that line. I would literally spend Saturdays taking public transit to areas I hadn't been. I had a map of the system (remember when you could get printed maps at stations?) on my wall and marked off the routes as I took them. Looking back, this wasn't actually the wisest thing to do as it meant going through some pretty bad parts of town, but hey, I'm still here. I haven't been back to Brussels since then, but I've been fortunate enough to visit and live in other cities with excellent transit systems in the last 25 years. But even though many of those cities have better systems than Brussels, you never forget your first love. Thanks for the memories! P. S. Before anyone asks, yes, I am single, and yes, I know why I'm single 😁.
Regarding numbering: in the past, the line numbers were grouped based on the main road they served. Trams through the city centre tunnel were in the 50s (52, 55 and 56), trams along the middle ring were in the 20s (23, 24, 25), trams along the “royal axis” in the 90s (92 93 94 97) etc. But then it was decided that the “chrono” lines would get low numbers and be displayed on maps with thicker lines to make them look more like metros. So the 23 became 7, the 52 became 3 and so on. Then lines were merged, split, shortened, lengthened and rerouted and now there’s basically no logic at all :) Oh and regarding the metro: screens didn’t show you the time, but they did show where each train was. It takes roughly 90 seconds per station, so you could guess that way (you’re at park at the metro is at Merode? It’ll be there in 4.5 min)
@@mu5gb You should not overestimate the logic in the numbering system. The numbering is mostly a result of historical accidents :-) as whatever decision that looks logical on the moment gets lost in future opportunistic changes, with their own incompatible logic. For instance, line 25 was formerly line 90 (at least its northern half was) so that in the first years if not decades of the easternmost premetro line, it was used by lines 23 and 90. Then during a reorganisation, line 90 was renumbered line 25 to form a "logic" grouping with then lines 23 and 24 (with 24 being almost just a shortened 23 service). Not so much later they decided to prolong 23, ditch 24 and use short numbers for the main lines so 23 became 7.
maybe it is for the best that you have not been back despite still having a great transit system the city is no longer safe, many still defend it saying that you just have to find the nice places but that logic doesn't fly when compared to both Flemish and Waloon cities. Maybe it will get better but I have been there a couple times and I've never felt enamoured with it, I offcourse was only2 years old when you studied there and people say that things have changed drastically in even the last decade never mind a quarter century. (just imagine the smell of urine all over the stations, people litterally hugging your back to rush trough the gates when you actually pay your fair. (it's especially creepy for girls) there are areas where you can't go holding a camera or as an unescorted girl, there is graffiti all over monuments and crime has recently gone from pickpocketing and dark aley dealings which at least excluded the general public and touristst, to a far more visible and tangible problem with anti depressants being used to remove inhibitions and fear of being caught. I could go on, Brussels does not feel safe and I urge everyone coming to Belgium to go to Ghent, Bruges, Liege, Antwerp, Leuven, which were a lot more pleasant even a couple decades ago.
@@istoppedcaring6209 lol thin veiled racism. as a daily user i can assure you that it does not smell like urine, yes some parts have degraded over time and have not been modernised but it absolutely does not smell like urine in 99% of stations. monuments? what monuments are to be seen in the metro? fair hopping is almost non existant now that the subscription for adults 18-24 is only 12€. always fun to see american cultural export of conservatives being scared of big cities making its way to europe because we are so much more urbanised than them 98% vs 80%.
My telecom network lecturer last year was the Chief of transport at STIB (the public transport company) since 20 years and still going. He would always come in with his briefcase and his high vis jacket on, coming directly from the metro (hitching a ride in the driver cab). He had the big wrench-style metro keys on his key set and woud talk about metros every week during his lectures! Had loads of fun anecdotes, and we had several lectures canceled because he was travelling to visit Montreal or Istanbul metro networks.
the avid transport lovers should visit the Belgian railway museum located in the old Schaerbeek station building, Belgium built the first railway on the continent and the museum showcases it well. The whole thing takes 3hrs max to visit so if you have an afternoon to spare it is really recommended.
Do not forget Train World museum at the Schaerbeek Station ! 😍
3 месяца назад+6
Do not forget the Tramway Museum in Woluwe on lines 39-44 with a very extensive collection of rolling stock on display as well as heritage rolling stock runs on the network !
For being a capital city that belongs to a country that is governed by a myriad of governments who are built on linguistic fault lines, the Brussels transport provider MIVB/STIB manages to be the best public transport provider of Belgium. I only hope the national railways and Flemish bus & tram service someday to be able to compete with the quality that MIVB/STIB offers.
Long overdue. I've only been to Brussels once (1996). I didn't love the city very much, but I WAS impressed by its transport system, especially the trams. Coming from the UK, at the time, we basically didn't have any trams, so it was a novelty for me to go on some. Great to see they've kept expanding it!
Love it! Thanks for doing Brussels. Belgium has a very long history with trains, once having a major railcar manufacturing industry. It still has the busiest rail tunnel in the world and one of the highest passenger rail kilometers per capita.
Great video as per usual Recce. You should make an explained on the Tyne and Wear metro in Newcatle, the system is unique for the UK it has many quirks.
A lot of people outside of the North East don't even know it exists! Probably because many larger cities don't have a proper metro, or any mass transit at all _cough_ Leeds _cough_ so they don't expect it of Newcastle. They're always quietly impressed when they do see it.
yes, and that's because the ring wasn't complete until some 20 years ago, the last terminus before the completion of the ring line was Clemenceau, the station just after South/Midi, near a big food market Fr-Su. They had to build a new bridge over the canal at Delacroix.
Seeing the tourists on their way to Atomium have a mini-freakout when the train leaves in the “wrong” direction at Beekkant was half the fun of riding line 1A
One of the biggest transit problem Brussels has is actually the state structure of Belgium. Brussels is a small region inside Flanders. Transit is something the regions are responsible for (except trains, which are nationalised, but some want that to change too). This is the reason there is no metro to the airport (which is in Flanders). If you take a closer look all the metros and almost all trams stop at the cities regional boundary. Brussels wants to expand, but it can't. This makes a big transit problem because a lot of the wealthier workers live outside in the towns in Flanders. This means that every morning all those people commute to Brussels, of which a lot is done by car. If our state structure were different the public transport of Brussels would be able to serve those people too. Irony is that most of those towns in Flanders don't want anything to do with Brussels
there are still MIVB trams going to Drogenbos, Wezembeek and Tervuren, right? So not that it is not possible at all. But like in other cities like Antwerp, if some folks in those suburban municipalities say "NO" than it's a no. And there we come to one of those sweet belgian societal trends: the harsh anti-urban feelings of most folks in our lovely suburban sprawl around stroad-like "steenwegen". People see a tram as something bringing that bad, mad city into their great suburban lifestyle..
@@touwenwaterman1229 Which is, given the reputation of what is colloquially called "Brussels Youth", not entirely non-understandable. Also the reason why Uccle is not that eager for the M3 extension.
Tram 44 is however built by Leopold II himself, so way before any governance issues became relevant... I remember the time you needed a special supplement when travelling the 44, just because it crossed into Flanders. @@touwenwaterman1229
They are eager.@@MrFingers127 They have been asking for metro extension for years in Uccle. Woluwe Saint Lambert and saint Pierre, as well as auderghem all have metro lines and are very wealthy with not a criminality issue. Yet , Schaerbeek has no metro and still criminality problems. Vilvoorde has also problems with youth and has no metro nor a decent connection to Brussels. City grows with or without public transit. The problem is traffic
I recently had the opportunity to visit Brussels for work and really enjoyed the easy to use metro. I kept my Mobib card looking forward to my next visit!
Thanks Reece for an absolutely brilliant explanation of a remarkably complex situation. I first visited Brussels in 1977 when the east-west line was already Metro, but the 'corner line' was still pre-metro trams! Since about 1950 Brussels has enjoyed a quite slow but very STEADY evolution of its rail transit facilities. You capture remarkably well how this city is constantly both adapting and expanding its infrastructure. (Remember that the city is not only the headquarters of the EU, but it is also the headquarters of NATO.)
The Brussels RER network is in part a real new suburban network, with upgraded lines and stations, better signposting and rerouting some connections. But it is also a major rebranding of the previously existing slower train system that was there since over a century with stopping and peak hour trains. They now get a nice letter ‘S’ and a new number, but a lot of these connections already existed. The major investment in the RER network was the work to bring 2 track lines to 4 track lines in 5 directions around Brussels. This means that on these lines the 2 central tracks are adapted for the intercity and other faster services, with speeds of at least 140 km/h when leaving Brussels centre, and soon afterwards 160 km/h, even a short stretch of 200 km/h on the line shared with the high speed line to Liege and Germany. The line to the north (Antwerp) is not in this form, but taking into account the new tracks via the airport the capacity to the North has been increased already (but not enough, the Brussels-Antwerp line, even with the large works around he airport and Mechelen station, is more and more a bottle neck). The line to the West was already double in the sense that there was a decades old faster line without level crossings, close to the existing other 2 track line. From Gent onwards to the coast, this upgrade to 4 tracks is also ongoing, but that is no longer linked to the RER. The line to the east via Leuven was already brought to standards 20 ago, in the framework of the above mentioned high speed line to Germany. Then there is the line to the south east, direction of Namur and furher on to the countryof Luxemburg. There were funding problems, a lack of building permits and so on, that have delayed this RER extension, but work is continuing, with a gradual opening between 2027 and 2030. The line to the South, continuing to Charleroi, is supposed to get its 4 track RER upgrade to ‘Nivelles’. This line starts in the Brussels area of the country, then continues over Flemish soil, and then enters the Walloon part of the country. The village in the Flemish part of the track does not agree with the proposed building works, so this is still uncertain and on that stretch no work has started. If it would start soon, it will not ve ready before 2032. The RER network benefits all regions of Belgium, but some politicians still see it as a ‘Brussels’ project, and are not so enthousiastic to provide extra funding to the national rail infrastructure provider to get the work done. Climate change and huge traffic problems around Brussels show that this project is essential, but the ongoing talks for a new central federal government proposed budget cuts rather then budget increases for rail.
I still don't understand how capacity can be constrained on Bxl - Antwerp. There are six tracks until Mechelen, and then 4 to Antwerp. How is it possible that one more train an hour creates all kinds of problems for NMBS's domestic timetable? And that is without all of the expansion plans for international rail from NL to France. On the topic of the RER, it has been going on for so long that many forget it is still even in the works. A lot of infrastructure is completed but service is just not up to speed. Many people have no idea there is an integrated ticket and - way worse - even know the trains are there! Who, besides the transit nerd, knows that Merode has a railway station? Sadly, it is a rather useless piece of information as frequencies are way too low.
Antwerp has one as well, with the interesting fact that the tunnel is Y shaped. There are trams going from south to north, west to north, west to south and so on. It’s also one of the few cities that doesn’t have a station directly at the Central Station, instead it’s served by both the Diamant and Astrid stations, which confuses some visitors
Charleroi is not a premetro. Charleroi system has been designed alike to the german Stadtbahn principle, by putting underground existing tramway lines. However in Antwerp, it has been designed as a premetro system, with provisions for an upgrade to high-floor standard gauge metro someday. In Antwerp the platform tracks are on a 1 meter thick layer of ballast (hence the hump on each end of stations), which can later be removed to lower the tracks in the station. There are currently no plans for such a conversion in Antwerp. Low-floor high-capacity tramways (which didn't exist at the time of the system design) can fulfill a very similar type of service for a few decades at least.
I’ve always wondered about converting LRTs to metros. Perhaps make a video about the trade-offs of pre-metro design, especially relative cost differences.
One criticism about the conversion of line 3, is that it will cut off some direct routes (including the newly opened tram 10). That’s a phenomenon that happened with each pre metro to metro conversion: with a pre metro you can have 4-5 lines sharing the same tunnel but serving different branches at street level, with a proper metro you have to pick one route, and the other branches have to transfer Another concern of the users of tram 55 (which will be converted during phase 2 of metro line 3) is that a metro has fewer stops and you have to go underground to take it, so the time you save with faster trains, you lose it by walking more Otherwise pre metro is a good option to build a metro gradually if you don’t have all the funds available immediately. Just extend the tunnel bit by bit until it’s long enough to be converted into its own line
3 месяца назад+4
@@mu5gb 4-5 lines sharing the pre-metro tunnel does work for a start, when the demand is such that each of these lines operate at 10-12 min headways. Once the demand grows, you end up with problems because having 4 or 5 lines perfectly clocked at the tunnel entrance is very challenging. This is why STIB changed that initial service pattern to only 2 high-capacity tram lines (and partly a third one) in the tunnel, with provisions to ensure they clock well at the tunnel entrance (no street running, traffic light priority at junctions, etc.).
I feel like an LRT and a Brussels style Premetro are two quite different approaches. For the same problem (wanting a metro but not being able to afford it). Brussels seems to have basically built half of a metro line with a (semi) temporary entrance and exit for existing tram routes along the corridor to make use of the tunnel until the need/ funding for the metro conversion was there. But the infrastructure was always sized to fit a metro. Most LRTs don’t have this kind of oversized infrastructure. Quite contrary, the core of many LRT systems is where the cost cutting happened. There are some exceptions (Ottawa Line 1), but most LRT/ Stadtbahn systems have long (Seattle/ Frankfurt/ Stuttgart) or important (Portland/ Denver/ Bonn) sections which would need a complete rebuild to be able to support a full metro conversion. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not going to have the same cost benefits as the premetro.
@@eechauch5522 The issue in the United States is a lot more political concerning public transportation. If transit systems were developed based on the longterm needs of the population, questions regarding BRT, LRT, Metro, etc. would be fairly easy to answer. Perhaps that is one of the issues in Brussels, and the reason for the premetro approach.
Thank you for making a piece on my literal workplace as a transit professional. A few other interesting plans are the airport tram line (that you briefly mentioned) and a few "internal" tram extensions that are being planned or prepared, like Belgica - North Station and beyond, the extension of T8 towards Bordet where it should meet up with M3, or a link in the south between the Altitude 100 area and Wiels (and beyond). And there's plenty more. A final project is the "re"introduction of the interurban trams, a line that partially existed pre 1968, Brussels - Londerzeel and on to Willebroek.
On Elisabeth/Simonis not having through running in a circle - this is actually good practice apparently. Pure circle lines have a habit of collecting delays throughout the day and it's better operationally to just have a terminus at either end. It's the same reason London's TfL decided to sever its circle line (which no longer runs in a proper circle). Good that you mentioned the S-train/RER system - it really needs frequency and is a hugely underused resource at the moment.
It also needs much better marketing, it’s crazy the number of people who live right next to a station and are completely unaware of its existence or the lines it serves
@@n.bastians8633 The Yamanote Line suffers from reliability issues! It's one of the less reliable lines in Tokyo. A 2019 article in Modern Railways says "Despite largely dedicated tracks, the very busy 34.5km Yamanote line which circles inner Tokyo experienced 10-minute delays on 30% of days"
@@mu5gb absolutely yes - and better fare integration with STIB as well. if you have a pass that includes it it's fine but for casual journeys for visitors you basically have to buy a ticket like you're getting a regular SNCB train
Back when i was studying in Brussels i remember the metros and trams being the best thing about living there. Really makes it easy as hell to get around
Also the fact that several lines bring you literally in the middle of the forest or corn fields, and that you can take your bike on them, makes for some great day trips
I think Brussels actually needs a Crossrail-like second railway connection, directly connecting Brussels South and the Schuman or Luxembourg station in the European quarter. Because also important things are a) the entire heavy rail system is run by national carrier SNCB/NMBS , so also the suburban lines. But NMBS already explicitly said that "the Brussels suburban lines are not their core business".. b) the INCREDIBLE bottleneck of the North-South tunnel. Some sources say this is the busiest rail line in the entire world (i think when using the metric: amount of total trains per day, divided by number of tracks which are only 3 in each direction). A minor incident on this section has consequences on the entire Belgian rail network. So the city actually needs infrastructure being able to reroute many of the commuter S-trains or even intercity and high speed trains via a new tunnel link. And i think this new project will be a necessary condition for high frequency rail of at least each 15 minutes. And also, this would create a loop South-European quarter-Schaarbeek-Laken-West station-South. Interesting for a new metro project as well? But this will be a megaproject anyway, because in order not to bulldoze entire city neighbourhoods, this tunnel will need to start beyond Brussels South, which means Brussels South will have to become a multilevel-station with all trains running on this line stopping underground. Doubtful if there are chances this will become reality in the near future given the dreadful bloody red numbers the Belgian state's budget is currently in.. In general, Brussels transit is by far the best functioning of Belgium. STIB/MIVB definitely beats the mess Flander's transit carrier De Lijn is constantly making...
This is an interesting alternative to a potential HSR tunnel, to separate Eurostar and NS/NMBS Intercities. I share your fear however that any big infrastructure project will struggle to see the light of day in the coming years.
Actually a great idea! I live near Schuman and If I need to take a train in the South-Station I always will take the metro-line over train transit simply because the amount of connections I missed caused by the North-South tunnel.
Reece, can you cover the Nuremberg U-bahn? Nuremberg is one of the smallest cities to have full-fledged heavy-rail metro system, and it is also interesting, why it was decided to build a proper metro here, whereas in Stuttgart, which is bigger in population, it was the stadtbahn system that was built.
@@mu5gb that would be a great vid, he hated the city because we literally have a word for doing the thing he hates, "Brusselization". 100% agree More praise for Brussels!!
Actually, automation and platform screen doors aren’t long term plans. PSDs will be retrofitted in three stations in 2025, and line1/5 signaling system was designed for driverless operation, which will eventually happen once all stations are equipped with PSDs. Line 3 is planned to be automated and have PSDs when construction begins on the northern tunnel.
@@fplancke3336 the STIB announced in 2022 that they will retrofit PSDs at Erasme/Erasmus, Eddy Merckx and CERIA/COOVI stations as a pilot project in late 2025.
As a Belgian thank you for this video. The internet decided to hate Brussels, so i think its refreshing to watch a positive video about my capital city.
The infrequent S-trains are indeed a total nightmare. My girlfriend had to commute to work from Leuven to Linkebeek every day, and if she missed her connection in Brussels south (which happens all the time), she got stuck for an hour. I had to commute from Leuven all the way to Bruges for a time, and it was far easier than just commuting to Linkebeek because of this (which is completely crazy).
@@tijljappens7953 This has à simple explanation: in the first case you remain in the Flanders region while in the second case you have to go through the Brussels region. Belgium as a whole suffers a lot from regional conflicts.
@@Dimitrovski3007 My understanding is that even though SNCB/NMVB is federal, regional competition plays an outsized role in the setup of its network - especially wrt commuting from Flanders to Brussels. But I have no inside knowledge.If that's your case, please enlighten us
One thing which needs to be pointed out : the Brussels tramways are narrow-body (but standard gauge). For the same length, they carry 20% less passengers than tramways in France or Luxemburg. Also, they are currently performing signaling works on the M1, in order to make possible a future increase in frequency. You could also have explained why there is no North-South metro network : the main municipalities always refused to have this thing built on their territory... and now their inhabitants regret it. Tramways and buses are not sufficient to cover their needs. M3 will improve this to the north (someday), but not to the south (maybe 22nd century). Buses have improved a lot too, now we have i think 12 lines served by frequent articulated buses, compared to 2 before. I can feel the difference in my travels :)
I remember getting around the city easily when I visited in 2018 but I ran into the worst people on the system. While I was in a busy tram, someone reached into my coat pocket, took my phone and ran. Another time, there was someone intent on coughing on me and moved closer when I moved away. Maybe I'll have better luck in the future if I ever go back, with everything in inside pockets.
@@Vortexcube I live in Brussels and the security is bad in pretty much every transit system. Some lines are known to be the hotspots of pickpockets, especially on the buses like the line 71. The big stations like Brussels Midi or Brussels Noord can be intimidating, especially when there's not many people inside the stations at the end of the day. There will be a police station inside of Brussels Midi because of the increasing demand by the locals. Everyone is insisting on this problem but the politicians don't care, they don't use public transportation anyway. I wished my city was way stricter on these criminals, they have the cameras to see them properly.
the RER project, while it has been massively delayed many times already, is quite a massive project for a small country like Belgium. They have rebuilt dozens of stations to accommodate the 4 tracks (rather than 2 previously), and that's not only in Brussels, it almost throughout the whole country. Each station having its own problems, being in urban areas. The project was put to a stop between 2008 and roughly 2020, I don't really know why to be honest. But since 2020 they have made some great progress. Hopefully the Louvain-la-Neuve - Brussels RER will be finished in the next few months. Anyway, great video !
There was a classic Belgian conflict over the allocation of funds between Wallonia and Flanders; apparently, funding used to be distributed 60/40 between Flanders and Wallonia, and while there was some funding available to finish one of lines to the south, using it would upset the 60/40 allocation leading to several years of delay. In this period finances were generally tight, but the outgoing government has put significantly more money in rail. Let's hope that the new coalition does not scrap all of this.
@@Giruno56 right, a classic Belgian story I guess hahah. Yeah I really hope so too... the TEC (Walloon public transport) has made some huge improvements since 2020 as well. I hope the government won't cut the funds to public transport, but I'm not very optimistic about that... They will probably try and privatise the SNCB/NMBS. I'm really sad those right wing parties scored so high in Belgium, let alone in wallonia, which was, until now, spared by that.
Premetros were actually inspired by Germany’s stadtbahns. I’m surprised you didn’t make that comparison considering how you’ve praised them in the past.
3 месяца назад+1
For Charleroi it is. But for Brussels there are many conceptual differences between the german Stadtbahn concept, the Brussels premetro concept and the Antwerp premetro concept (which also differ on multiple design characteristics)
I find it hilarious that belgium has not one but two metro systems where trains switch from LHD to RHD partway through a route. Unfortunately, the line in Charleroi with the switch never opened.
I rode the Brussels Metro in 2012. Definitely an ODD mix of mid to late 20th Century design and 21st Century modern aesthetic. I regret not taking more photos of it.
3 месяца назад+1
It's still there ;-) There is also a book "Art dans le métro" which explains everything. 2% of station construction budget had to be allocated to art, and this is something nobody regrets, particularily after having visited other underground transport systems.
As someone who uses the system on a daily-basis, the BXLs public transport has extremely bad connections anywhere but the centre. If you live outside of the loop, you have to rely on slow buses, trams and poorly thought connections. Plus transport from Flanders operate basically inside of the city centre on major roads, and you can't use the STIB tickets/monthly ticket on such buses. This severely limits cross-neighbourhood travel (which should be 15-30 mins, not 45-60 min via the centre).
I have lived for my whole life 20km away from Brussels, right next to a future RER station, and it's good for once to hear positivity about Belgian transit. People LOVE to complain and there are issues, but we are quite lucky honestly. Also you talking about the RER and the M3 line was nice because everybody only ever talks about the problems with these projects (they are absolutely big messes that are massively late and over budget) without mentioning how awesome and worth it they are
I always find the S-train branding funny as they haven't really done anything to deserve that title. Unlike in Germany or France where they were specifically constructed to move large volumes of people efficiently, here they're just the remnants of the old heavy rail network with a lick of new paint. It's run by the national railway service and not the local transit agency, which should say enough.
They've done some things. As the video says the Schumann-Josaphat connection, several tiny local stations opened along existing lines, and they are doubling up some railways to the city. However, the investments dried up to really make it a properly functioning system. Most of the lines still pass the north-south tunnel which limits the frequencies that can be acquired, and subsequently they gave up on opening new stations and it's in this limbo status. Sad, because I think there is still a lot of untapped potential.
Most German S-Bahn systems are run by DB, and the others by private train operators, none are run by public local transit operators. They are just integrated really well into the local fare structure.
That said: the frequency is the main problem. NMBS uses them to ferry people into or out of the city, people needing mobility within the city are still less of an afterthought when it comes to scheduling, stop frequency, and eas if ticketing
Thanks for covering my home city! Timing isn't great, today and tomorrow are literally the last days of operation of tram 3, because with the opening of the new tracks to Neder-Over-Heembeek in the North, they are reorganising the network, with a new line 10 taking over the bulk of the current line 3 (except the northern branch to Esplanade, which will be taken over by a new tram line over existing tracks to the East of the city.) The second ring line will most likely not be a metro, but will stay a tram with short tunnels left and right. You clearly knew about the extension to the Airport, but it seems to have been removed from the script later. Oh, well.
About to move to Brussels from the US, in less than 2 weeks. What great timing!!! Even with its problems, I am in love with the transit system in Brussels and Belgium :)
At last the Brussel Pré-métro, it was a personnal request of mine because of the concept to build underground tram tunnel before switching to a Metro instead. i.e Cost cutting or doubling the trouble or long term vision.
Great video as always. The light rail makes me think of the possibilities with some of Chicago's north-south corridors. Would love to see a video from you dedicated to the proposed and failed BRT along Chicago's Ashland Ave and how some type of rail might have been a better option.
I think there is one big elephant in the room in transit in Brussels, namely that the trains are run by the national company and the STIB/MIVB do not run any. This leads to the train company focusing pretty much exclusively on regional, intercity and international lines and only doing suburban or city lines as an afterthought. The train company would be perfectly happy ignoring Brussels if it wasn’t so central. I lived in a number of areas in the city and you’d have these beautiful rail lines, sometimes 4 lines, electrified, perfect, which could connect a lot of the outer parts of town… running 2 trains per hour. Because they are trains set up to go to some small village out in the countryside, even though there are tons of people close by without a station, or having a station but low frequency or little choice in destinations, ending up having to take slow buses, and frequently the car
The Brussels tram and metro network did benefit from a lot of investments over the last years. It is not just the larger projects and new trains, but also the work thas been done to make the network more fluid and comfortable. The metro stations did get quite some renovation projects, but not all or all parts have been tackled yet. HOWEVER … there is a serious ‘double trouble’ : - the Brussels region is living way above what it can really afford financially. The debt is huge, the deficit too. Traditionally the Brussels region likes to look to the national government, but … that is not likely to help from now on. The elections of june 2024 did not uet lead to a new Belgian federal government, but the ongoing talks point to a centre right government that wants to have a stricter budget, and the federal politicians are not very Brussels-minded. - the metro line 3 is projected to go very serious above budget. Since no actual work started on the stretch north of the North station, this part of the project risks to be cancelled. There is definitely a good case for this project, that will run close to the NATO headquarters. But f the budget just isn.t there, better stop in time. Does this mean that the central section of the metro line 3 is doing better ? No, absolutely not. Just north of the Brussels South station the line was supposed to use a new tunnel under anlarge historical building. Not a very nice building, but still, it is protected. And … the soil there is way to swampy. When the tunnelbuilders poored concrete into holes the dug out to create support colums, under the basement of the building, the concrete just vanished rapidly and in large quantities, also flowing to nearby areas where the drilling was not done uet, so now the drilling will have to go through the recently poored and drifting away concrete. There is no decent solution for this problem. The latest idea is to completely evacuate the building, completely gut it from the inside, try and get a metro line underneath, and then rebuild the inside of the large multistorey building. This is going to cost many hunderds of millions of euros, without a guarantee it will work, and with more technical and financial risks. The people having declared the soil there suitable clearly did a bad job, and the tragedy is that they were also involved in declaring the soil of the northern stretch suitable. Lets hope …
Financial headwinds are ahead for Brussels. I don't think the North - South section will be cancelled, but the parts beyond are in a lot of trouble. Brussels does need more metro, but if the SmartMove tolls are not levied, I don't see how it could be funded anytime soon. Yes, the federal government ought to step in, but spending such a large sum of money (perhaps more than 4 billion) might nonetheless strand. The frequent case of tran expansion first becomes more appealing every time...
Great video! When you said the thing about turning loops for trams I thought about my city, Rotterdam, where the tramnetwork is pretty old fashioned compared to Brussels. Maybe you can do a video about it someday!
Congratulations on your video, but I'm sorry about your timing! 😛 In two days time, this video will already be outdated, as tram 3, now going from Esplanade via Brussels North to Churchill will cease existing, becoming line 35 from Esplanade towards Meiser and Weldoeners/Bienfaiteurs. In lieu of tram 3, tram 10 which had its royal inauguration today with many festivities in Neder-over-Heembeek will be running from the Military Hospital in the North of Brussels on a completely new route into Heembeek, and from there as line 3 to Churchill via the North station.
Great video! Would love to see an video on Charleroi and its premetro system both planned, built but not opened and opened stations... Sad that one city and its metro systems are so successful while a nearby one was hit hard by industrial decline and has never recovered since...
3 месяца назад
In Charleroi, the works to put into operation the last strecth built but never operated did start a few months ago. In 2 years or so, the full system will be operated !
Little Belgium puts all U S cities to shame with the extensive coordinated network of rail plus unbelievable stations and train cars. Im speechless. The best is the rail overpass directly over another Metro station. How was that built?
as someone living in the east-northern part of brussels i can't wait for M3 because it takes me about one hour to reach the center despite it being only 6km away from my house.... god thanks the S trains save me a lot of time
You have to do the complex and hybrid tram network of The Hague. The Hague tram (HTM) runs both at street level, underground and above ground. There are underground and above ground tram stops, which are more like metro stations. What is special is that The Hague also has a light rail network (RandstadRail) that connects the suburbs and satellite cities. These light rail vehicles also use the tram network of The Hague. Then The Hague is also connected to a metro line (E) to Rotterdam (RET) here too the light rail vehicles (RandstadRail) run on the same metro track of the (RET) and they also share the platforms.
You should do Belgrade, Serbia. How does work a city with 2 million people and no metro. How it had perfectly located rail station, only for it to be relocated 5km from city center and make way for Dubai style high raise.
I used to visit BRU a lot in the 2000s. The network is not that legible for visitors (a feature common to bus/tram cities in contrast to mero/rail cities). Eurocrats used to get around by sharing secret transit hacks e.g. how to get to the EU quarter from Midi via regional train.
there is also brussel-schuman and brussel-luxemburg, for trains to luxembourg. there also are 2 small stations between south and north stations, brussel-congres and brussel-kapellekerk
A little fun fact about the line numbers. Until 2009 , they were 3 metro lines instead of 4. Line 1a connected Roi Baudoin to Herrmann-Debroux (a mix of metro 5 and 6 of today), line 1b connected Erasmus to Stockel (like an extension of metro 1 to Erasmus) and finaly the metro line 2 that connected Delacroix to Elisabeth. In 2009, no stations was added, just a big lines reorganisation.
Toronto should look to Brussels for inspiration on how to design a forward-thinking transit system. Toronto and Ontario politicians have always chosen to build the megaprojects of today over the potential rapid transit expansion of tomorrow. One reason for this "all or nothing" approach to transit is because, in the eyes of North American politicians, cars and roads are prioritized above trains and deserve all the time in the world, while transit has to be built in megaprojects if it is ever to succeed.
Before the reconfiguration of the metro lines, they also operated under different numbers (1A became 5, 1B became 1). And caused some controversy if i can remember correctly. I'm happy i ride the tram 39 nearly daily as it is in fact a beautiful line, joining the beautiful tintin themed Stokkel
They'll also have a new pretty long tramline all the way from Brussels to Willebroek. But they didn't even start working on it yet as of now. Also, Antwerp has a pretty big tram/pre-Metro network with lots of underground trams going underneath the whole city and the "Schelde"
The south station is called Bruxelles Midi in French, which can be confusing if you don't speak French. It sort of sounds like "middle". Everything in Brussels is AT LEAST bilingual. Many towns (and railway stations) in Belgium have very different names in the two most common languages. It is all good fun in times of peace.
The term RER has been imported to Belgium from abroad, I suppose largely because of the RER network of Paris. So the term is used since 20 years for the improved commuter rail service aroind Brussels. The lines get a ‘S’ logo and number. But then the Belgian railway started to use the same terminology for trains around Antwerp and Liege too. Again, mainly a rebranding of existing services, but in Liege a short new line actually opened, on tracks previously used for the heavy steel industry.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but it would be interesting to see a video about the Porto metro. The system is a bit of a combination of light rail, metro and suburban rail, with an S-Bahn adjacent layout. It's also the first European metro to use Chinese trains.
Boston had visions of converting portions of the Green Line trolley tunnels to full metro. Kenmore Station was built with 4 tracks, 2 platforms. The innermost tracks had trestles built above a pit for the existing streetcars, that could be removed if ever converted to full metro. It was conceived that the Boston College line would be extended as a subway under Commonwealth Ave westbound from Kenmore. In fact, tunnel sidewalls were extended to a point beyond Kenmore for that purpose. The Green Line streetcar branch inbound from Brookline would have passengers transfer at Kenmore to this new metro, and the trolleys would then take an underground loop to head back out to Beacon Street. Also, the Huntington Ave. trolley line had a trestle built at the portal to the street, with the same tunnel sidewalls continuing under the avenue with the same idea for future metro conversion. Obviously, nothing happened. When the Boeing-Vertol LRVs arrived in the mid-1970s it was discovered that they were too heavy for the trestles at Kenmore and Huntington Ave., so they were removed and the pits filled in. Of course, major retrofits of the ancient Green Line tunnels would have been necessary for this "pre-metro" to full subway. What might have been, though.
I’ve got to visit Brussels earlier this year while I was vacationing in Paris. I took the EuroStar high speed train there and it was awesome! I’m from New York City born and raised and we don’t have high speed rail here in the U.S. Acela doesn’t hit 189MPH/300KPH like EuroStar does. I got to hangout in Brussels for about 7-8 hours before returning back to the Paris the same day and visited some landmarks which thanks to their subway system was absolutely possible and a great experience. I love the fact they have a day unlimited pass for I think it was 8 euros 💶 that I paid for. Paris doesn’t have that option for unlimited day passes. Shout out to Belgium 🇧🇪 🫶🏼
Very happy to see a video from my adopted home. Hanover is next, right? 😍 There were excellent comments on what the S-Train system is lacking, so im not gonna add to them, but one thing you did not mention is that the neighbourhoods to the South East (Elsene/Ixelles and Uccle) are severely underserved by rail, with no immediate plans to rectify that, unfortunately…
You missed one important thing: due to Brussels being it's own region (Brussels-Capital Region) surrounded by the Flemish region, it's impossible for the metro to extend out its borders. Even though it would be so useful to extend just a few kms so it would reach outside of the main highway (the R0). Only one metro goes just beyond the R0 because only there is the R0 in the brussels region.
The fact that you didn't include the new tram line 10 that opened the day of the upload is unfortunate. Now the video is already outdated. 😅 Still free engagement I guess.
And now the truth.. as local, I can tell you very little further large-scale development will take place from here, since the city is heavily indebted and by no means hosts an economy (let alone the political stability to boost one) that can support any such ambitous growth as the future projects mentioned in the video..
Well metro line 3 is ongoing, but that one alone will put us in debt for a very, very long time. The RER project is also still going, although slowly Most expansions will probably happen outside Brussels I think. That’s where the money is, and also where public transport is currently the most lacking. The previous Flemish government was pretty interested in better connecting Brussels to the Rand, but we’ll have to see what the next one thinks
At least phase 1 of metro 3 will be built, imo, they have progressed too far to change course, but the solutions at Palais du Midi/Zuidpaleis will be costly and are contested. They are also running into some engineering issues near Brussels North station. Phase 2... I'm still in favour, but don't see it happening anytime soon. It was planned for between 2030 and 2035, even if I am still convinced that they will have to, sooner or later. I'm even less optimistic about developments around Brussels, Vlaanderen may have more money, they have almost no interest in public transportation, and have been starving their public transport operator De Lijn for years, now. Frankly, in spite of the lack of money, I'm still more hopeful about Brussels public transport projects going ahead, because even the Liberal parties here are convinced of their need to keep the city moving.
I love the tram and metro system of Brussels; it was probably our favourite part about living there. The RER has a lot of potential, but they really need to run more frequently. I really hope they can make that a reality.
The one thing they need to improve though is the ticketing. It's a very dated system. And I hate the double fare gates! The last time I was there I got stuck in one due to some kind of malfunction and I needed to call for a staff member to get me out!
Eventually I'm going to have to get back to Brussels for long enough to make a proper video about all the changes that have happened there since we left in 2013. There are still WAY too many cars, but things have improved substantially!
Ah there's the response
Biggest brake to improvement right now is : we're basically broke and our governance model is a waking nightmare.
But I hope you can add your voice to our issues, influence things a little.
Mostly we're still catering way too much to commuters from outside the city.
The slightest inconvenience in the form of modal filters and all hell ensues.
It's tiring when at the same time the EU chastises us for lagging behind on emissions.
Also the 2025 tightening of the LEZ that's been postponed even though it's been coming for almost a decade.
Please roast our leadership 🙏
tbh everything has improved since covid
a 12 eur pass for ppl that are under 25 and students
new tram lines extensions
new metros ( automated but not really)
new bus stations and lanes
way more bike lanes ( Rue de la Loi and others are transformed )
New bike bridge in 4 places (from Wollue to Tervuren)
more temporary bikes vilo that are now all electric ( but that whole deal was a corrupt contract )
metro 3 ( kind of sketchy deal behind it again)
I disagree with you. In the past it was a nightmare, yes. I was a student and oh god I hated renewing the subscription (I had to do both Brussels transports and train). They wanted stupid forms you had to partially complete yourself, then your school had to complete a part too, etc. It took like at least a week to renew it. And for regular tickets, you couldn't buy them online But right now, if you have a phone or a card that works with NFC, you can just "beep" it at the gates. You pay 2.2€ per "beep", and you can pay 4 times, after that it's free
I am not sure what you mean by the double fair gates. Those do exist for people in wheelchairs and strollers. But are not meant to be used as a standard. The normal fair gates you can't really get stuck in. Even the double-gated ones, which in most cases work perfectly fine, when something does go wrong, people in the station are often willing to just scan you out.
And when it comes to the ticketing, the system has changed a lot. You can now use your Mobib for all MIVB/STIB SNCB/NMBs DeLijn, Tec if you have the Brussels XL subscription. Otherwise, you can always pay via your bank card, and it is capped at 8 euros a day for MIVB/STIB.
There are too many cars, fully agree with that, but as someone from Brussels myself, in your video in Rotterdam you also talk about Brussels, you seem to have had a bad experience living here back in the day and just written it off entirely.
If you come back, I would love to show you around at show a lot of the changes that we have made, just like the tour of Montreal that you posted.
We are not Amsterdam neither in bicycle culture nor in housing prices, so instead of dwelling on your experience from back when you lived here which clearly wasn't favourable, give it another try, there have been many improvements.
😇 Thanks for the video !
@@STIBMIVBbrussels un métro jusqu’à l’aéroport svp
@@mutcorentin7231 ouiiii!!! Bien vu
@@mutcorentin7231 Un jour, peut-être. :-) Une ligne de tram nous semble pour l'instant plus réaliste. Et réalisable, en terme de besoin.
Bonjour à M. de Saint Moulin, on adorait ses anecdotes sur le réseau en cours à l'ECAM ;-)
@@Ev-wj3lm Ah oui, c'est clair que Renaud, c'est Monsieur Anecdote ! On lui passera le bonjour ;-)
Something you may have missed, but literally today was the inauguration of a new tram line 10 towards the north of the city, replacing the current tram line 3 in the north-south premetro tunnel (revenue service starts monday). The tram network itself is expanding just as well, and at a much quicker pace than the metro. The metro extension has it's fair share of troubles, sadly enough.
They did it just in time for car-free day. Sounds like a joke knowing how bad planning can be haha
I actually made this video months in advance (for reasons which may or may not become apparent), so yeah - missed in the video!
@@RMTransit While we're talking about stuff you missed, the Brussels North-Brussels South tunnel ("North-South Connection" or "Line 0") is the busiest line in Belgium and the busiest railway tunnel in the world with 1200 trains a day running on 6 tracks.
Good video though.
Edit: While I'm at it, the RER/GEN is a bit of a recurring joke at the moment. The long term plan was reportedly to have 4 to 5/h running (I've even heard 6 at some point) but I'll believe it when I see it, especially given how busy some of the railways they take are. The aforementioned Line 0 has 6 RER lines running through it (S1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10) meaning an additional 24 trains going through the busiest tunnel in the world. Not sure how they'll achieve that...
The new tram line 35 opened the same day too
i Belgian
As a Belgian, thank you ! I hope our country is going back in the direction of great transit like it used to be with trains going to every cities and interurban trams going in every villages and small towns (SNCV/NMVB) of the country. I wish we'd build back those tracks in rural areas with modern tram-trains. The kusttram that you covered, aswell as the Charleroi metro, were part of this giant interurban network
Thanks for watching, Brussels is a strong core to build from!
@@RMTransit the official public transport of brussels (STIB MIVB) commented, why dont u give them a heart xD
As a frequent user of the system, thanks for your amazing explanation!
Thanks for watching :)
Yes ! Slay Brussel ❤the heart of Europe and an under appreciated metro ❤
I live here and people tend to complain whereas we have a pretty solid network (plus STIB has a funny modern way of handling social networking).
I have 2 tram and 4 bus lines within 5 min from home. Service starts early, ends late, runs frequent. Transfers aren't bad. Metro stations are old and very "eighties" in the concrete and color schemes.
What's really insulting though are the train station. Brussel South is absolutely shameful in so many ways.
Very much underappreciated, but honestly quite noteworthy!
You should have mentioned Tram 44, one of the most beautiful tram lines in the world running through a gorgeous forest 🌳Great video btw!!
And 39 as well (not as beautiful as 44, but still)
Theres always another video! Brussels does have many beautiful trams, and I find the modern vehicles themselves beautiful for what its worth!
You are right on time about Brussels ! The all new Tram Line 10 have just been inaugurated by the King today !
It's going to be a success with the Terminus at the Military Hospital and the Bpost sorting centre along the route.
I grew up in an area with almost no public transit and then studied abroad in Brussels in college because the woman I had a crush on was doing so...errr, I mean, because I had heard about all of its beauty and historic significance. Yeah, that's it 😂.
Seriously, the woman gave me the let's just be friends speech well before the study abroad semester, but I ended up falling in love with public transportation in Brussels. It was fascinating to me that I could get from one side of the city to the other underground in a short time. Planning the best route to get somewhere by public transport before Google Maps existed was a challenge I happily accepted. And trains and trams were just so much fun to be on. It's a love I still have to this day :).
When I was there in 1998, the numbering was much different. The metros were numbered 1a (from the SE side of town, through the central area, to the Atomium area on the NW), 1b (from the E side of town to the SW, sharing track with the 1a through the center), and 2 (the loop around the center, except it wasn't a loop yet because the last bit on the northwest side of the loop hadn't been built yet.) The metro stations didn't yet have screens telling you how long it would be until the next train arrived; you just had to wait. Trams that went through the Premetro didn't get low numbers; for example, I frequently took what was then the 23 route through the eastern Premetro as the family I was staying with lived on that line.
I would literally spend Saturdays taking public transit to areas I hadn't been. I had a map of the system (remember when you could get printed maps at stations?) on my wall and marked off the routes as I took them. Looking back, this wasn't actually the wisest thing to do as it meant going through some pretty bad parts of town, but hey, I'm still here.
I haven't been back to Brussels since then, but I've been fortunate enough to visit and live in other cities with excellent transit systems in the last 25 years. But even though many of those cities have better systems than Brussels, you never forget your first love. Thanks for the memories!
P. S. Before anyone asks, yes, I am single, and yes, I know why I'm single 😁.
Regarding numbering: in the past, the line numbers were grouped based on the main road they served. Trams through the city centre tunnel were in the 50s (52, 55 and 56), trams along the middle ring were in the 20s (23, 24, 25), trams along the “royal axis” in the 90s (92 93 94 97) etc. But then it was decided that the “chrono” lines would get low numbers and be displayed on maps with thicker lines to make them look more like metros. So the 23 became 7, the 52 became 3 and so on. Then lines were merged, split, shortened, lengthened and rerouted and now there’s basically no logic at all :)
Oh and regarding the metro: screens didn’t show you the time, but they did show where each train was. It takes roughly 90 seconds per station, so you could guess that way (you’re at park at the metro is at Merode? It’ll be there in 4.5 min)
@@mu5gb You should not overestimate the logic in the numbering system. The numbering is mostly a result of historical accidents :-) as whatever decision that looks logical on the moment gets lost in future opportunistic changes, with their own incompatible logic. For instance, line 25 was formerly line 90 (at least its northern half was) so that in the first years if not decades of the easternmost premetro line, it was used by lines 23 and 90. Then during a reorganisation, line 90 was renumbered line 25 to form a "logic" grouping with then lines 23 and 24 (with 24 being almost just a shortened 23 service). Not so much later they decided to prolong 23, ditch 24 and use short numbers for the main lines so 23 became 7.
maybe it is for the best that you have not been back despite still having a great transit system the city is no longer safe, many still defend it saying that you just have to find the nice places but that logic doesn't fly when compared to both Flemish and Waloon cities.
Maybe it will get better but I have been there a couple times and I've never felt enamoured with it, I offcourse was only2 years old when you studied there and people say that things have changed drastically in even the last decade never mind a quarter century.
(just imagine the smell of urine all over the stations, people litterally hugging your back to rush trough the gates when you actually pay your fair. (it's especially creepy for girls)
there are areas where you can't go holding a camera or as an unescorted girl, there is graffiti all over monuments and crime has recently gone from pickpocketing and dark aley dealings which at least excluded the general public and touristst, to a far more visible and tangible problem with anti depressants being used to remove inhibitions and fear of being caught.
I could go on, Brussels does not feel safe and I urge everyone coming to Belgium to go to Ghent, Bruges, Liege, Antwerp, Leuven, which were a lot more pleasant even a couple decades ago.
Nothing makes memories of a city like riding around its public transit in a certain bygone era!
@@istoppedcaring6209 lol thin veiled racism.
as a daily user i can assure you that it does not smell like urine, yes some parts have degraded over time and have not been modernised but it absolutely does not smell like urine in 99% of stations. monuments? what monuments are to be seen in the metro? fair hopping is almost non existant now that the subscription for adults 18-24 is only 12€.
always fun to see american cultural export of conservatives being scared of big cities making its way to europe because we are so much more urbanised than them 98% vs 80%.
2:58 Fun Fact they opened a new tram line in the north of Brussels today!
My telecom network lecturer last year was the Chief of transport at STIB (the public transport company) since 20 years and still going. He would always come in with his briefcase and his high vis jacket on, coming directly from the metro (hitching a ride in the driver cab). He had the big wrench-style metro keys on his key set and woud talk about metros every week during his lectures! Had loads of fun anecdotes, and we had several lectures canceled because he was travelling to visit Montreal or Istanbul metro networks.
Wow that's extremely cool, I wish I had been in your class! What university was this?
the avid transport lovers should visit the Belgian railway museum located in the old Schaerbeek station building, Belgium built the first railway on the continent and the museum showcases it well. The whole thing takes 3hrs max to visit so if you have an afternoon to spare it is really recommended.
Do not forget Train World museum at the Schaerbeek Station ! 😍
Do not forget the Tramway Museum in Woluwe on lines 39-44 with a very extensive collection of rolling stock on display as well as heritage rolling stock runs on the network !
I just got back from a visit to the new Toots Tielemans station construction site on the car-free day. Excellent timing to stay in the transit-vibe.
Thats exciting, I need to get back in town!
For being a capital city that belongs to a country that is governed by a myriad of governments who are built on linguistic fault lines, the Brussels transport provider MIVB/STIB manages to be the best public transport provider of Belgium. I only hope the national railways and Flemish bus & tram service someday to be able to compete with the quality that MIVB/STIB offers.
Excellent point, well-said. Despite all the struggles that Brussels faces, the MIVB/STIB is something to be proud of.
Long overdue. I've only been to Brussels once (1996). I didn't love the city very much, but I WAS impressed by its transport system, especially the trams. Coming from the UK, at the time, we basically didn't have any trams, so it was a novelty for me to go on some. Great to see they've kept expanding it!
Thanks Mark! It is a very impressive tram city!
The fact that I was just hoping that you make a Brussels video yesterday, and now there's a Brussels video
Love it! Thanks for doing Brussels. Belgium has a very long history with trains, once having a major railcar manufacturing industry. It still has the busiest rail tunnel in the world and one of the highest passenger rail kilometers per capita.
Great video as per usual Recce.
You should make an explained on the Tyne and Wear metro in Newcatle,
the system is unique for the UK it has many quirks.
A lot of people outside of the North East don't even know it exists! Probably because many larger cities don't have a proper metro, or any mass transit at all _cough_ Leeds _cough_ so they don't expect it of Newcastle. They're always quietly impressed when they do see it.
So glad you mentioned the old reversing at Beekkant. Creative junction solutions seem to be a Belgian specialty: now do Charleroi!
yes, and that's because the ring wasn't complete until some 20 years ago, the last terminus before the completion of the ring line was Clemenceau, the station just after South/Midi, near a big food market Fr-Su. They had to build a new bridge over the canal at Delacroix.
Seeing the tourists on their way to Atomium have a mini-freakout when the train leaves in the “wrong” direction at Beekkant was half the fun of riding line 1A
So so weird!
One of the biggest transit problem Brussels has is actually the state structure of Belgium. Brussels is a small region inside Flanders. Transit is something the regions are responsible for (except trains, which are nationalised, but some want that to change too). This is the reason there is no metro to the airport (which is in Flanders). If you take a closer look all the metros and almost all trams stop at the cities regional boundary. Brussels wants to expand, but it can't. This makes a big transit problem because a lot of the wealthier workers live outside in the towns in Flanders. This means that every morning all those people commute to Brussels, of which a lot is done by car. If our state structure were different the public transport of Brussels would be able to serve those people too. Irony is that most of those towns in Flanders don't want anything to do with Brussels
there are still MIVB trams going to Drogenbos, Wezembeek and Tervuren, right? So not that it is not possible at all. But like in other cities like Antwerp, if some folks in those suburban municipalities say "NO" than it's a no. And there we come to one of those sweet belgian societal trends: the harsh anti-urban feelings of most folks in our lovely suburban sprawl around stroad-like "steenwegen". People see a tram as something bringing that bad, mad city into their great suburban lifestyle..
@@touwenwaterman1229 Which is, given the reputation of what is colloquially called "Brussels Youth", not entirely non-understandable. Also the reason why Uccle is not that eager for the M3 extension.
Tram 44 is however built by Leopold II himself, so way before any governance issues became relevant... I remember the time you needed a special supplement when travelling the 44, just because it crossed into Flanders. @@touwenwaterman1229
@@touwenwaterman1229 Ah yes they go outside indeed, I forgot. Hahaha typical mentality here!
They are eager.@@MrFingers127
They have been asking for metro extension for years in Uccle.
Woluwe Saint Lambert and saint Pierre, as well as auderghem all have metro lines and are very wealthy with not a criminality issue.
Yet , Schaerbeek has no metro and still criminality problems.
Vilvoorde has also problems with youth and has no metro nor a decent connection to Brussels. City grows with or without public transit. The problem is traffic
I recently had the opportunity to visit Brussels for work and really enjoyed the easy to use metro. I kept my Mobib card looking forward to my next visit!
Went to the inauguration of the new tram extension into Neder-over-Heembeek today. I bought a tram stop sign.
A wise purchase
Thanks Reece for an absolutely brilliant explanation of a remarkably complex situation.
I first visited Brussels in 1977 when the east-west line was already Metro, but the 'corner line' was still pre-metro trams! Since about 1950 Brussels has enjoyed a quite slow but very STEADY evolution of its rail transit facilities. You capture remarkably well how this city is constantly both adapting and expanding its infrastructure.
(Remember that the city is not only the headquarters of the EU, but it is also the headquarters of NATO.)
The slow and steady build is incredibly impressive and something most cities would benefit from emulating!
The Brussels RER network is in part a real new suburban network, with upgraded lines and stations, better signposting and rerouting some connections. But it is also a major rebranding of the previously existing slower train system that was there since over a century with stopping and peak hour trains. They now get a nice letter ‘S’ and a new number, but a lot of these connections already existed.
The major investment in the RER network was the work to bring 2 track lines to 4 track lines in 5 directions around Brussels. This means that on these lines the 2 central tracks are adapted for the intercity and other faster services, with speeds of at least 140 km/h when leaving Brussels centre, and soon afterwards 160 km/h, even a short stretch of 200 km/h on the line shared with the high speed line to Liege and Germany.
The line to the north (Antwerp) is not in this form, but taking into account the new tracks via the airport the capacity to the North has been increased already (but not enough, the Brussels-Antwerp line, even with the large works around he airport and Mechelen station, is more and more a bottle neck).
The line to the West was already double in the sense that there was a decades old faster line without level crossings, close to the existing other 2 track line. From Gent onwards to the coast, this upgrade to 4 tracks is also ongoing, but that is no longer linked to the RER.
The line to the east via Leuven was already brought to standards 20 ago, in the framework of the above mentioned high speed line to Germany.
Then there is the line to the south east, direction of Namur and furher on to the countryof Luxemburg. There were funding problems, a lack of building permits and so on, that have delayed this RER extension, but work is continuing, with a gradual opening between 2027 and 2030.
The line to the South, continuing to Charleroi, is supposed to get its 4 track RER upgrade to ‘Nivelles’. This line starts in the Brussels area of the country, then continues over Flemish soil, and then enters the Walloon part of the country. The village in the Flemish part of the track does not agree with the proposed building works, so this is still uncertain and on that stretch no work has started. If it would start soon, it will not ve ready before 2032.
The RER network benefits all regions of Belgium, but some politicians still see it as a ‘Brussels’ project, and are not so enthousiastic to provide extra funding to the national rail infrastructure provider to get the work done. Climate change and huge traffic problems around Brussels show that this project is essential, but the ongoing talks for a new central federal government proposed budget cuts rather then budget increases for rail.
I still don't understand how capacity can be constrained on Bxl - Antwerp. There are six tracks until Mechelen, and then 4 to Antwerp. How is it possible that one more train an hour creates all kinds of problems for NMBS's domestic timetable? And that is without all of the expansion plans for international rail from NL to France. On the topic of the RER, it has been going on for so long that many forget it is still even in the works. A lot of infrastructure is completed but service is just not up to speed. Many people have no idea there is an integrated ticket and - way worse - even know the trains are there! Who, besides the transit nerd, knows that Merode has a railway station? Sadly, it is a rather useless piece of information as frequencies are way too low.
Premetro is a common scene in Belgium. Charleroi also has a premetro system with a circular tunnel in the city's CBD, but services aren't so good.
Antwerp has one as well, with the interesting fact that the tunnel is Y shaped. There are trams going from south to north, west to north, west to south and so on.
It’s also one of the few cities that doesn’t have a station directly at the Central Station, instead it’s served by both the Diamant and Astrid stations, which confuses some visitors
Charleroi has a Business District?? Who wants to do business in Charleroi?
@@osasunaitor The mafia?
Charleroi is not a premetro. Charleroi system has been designed alike to the german Stadtbahn principle, by putting underground existing tramway lines. However in Antwerp, it has been designed as a premetro system, with provisions for an upgrade to high-floor standard gauge metro someday. In Antwerp the platform tracks are on a 1 meter thick layer of ballast (hence the hump on each end of stations), which can later be removed to lower the tracks in the station. There are currently no plans for such a conversion in Antwerp. Low-floor high-capacity tramways (which didn't exist at the time of the system design) can fulfill a very similar type of service for a few decades at least.
@@schelfie1986 haha I guess
As a Brusseler, I absolutely love watching a video of a foreigner talking about the transport system the city I live in has developped lol
I’ve always wondered about converting LRTs to metros. Perhaps make a video about the trade-offs of pre-metro design, especially relative cost differences.
One criticism about the conversion of line 3, is that it will cut off some direct routes (including the newly opened tram 10). That’s a phenomenon that happened with each pre metro to metro conversion: with a pre metro you can have 4-5 lines sharing the same tunnel but serving different branches at street level, with a proper metro you have to pick one route, and the other branches have to transfer
Another concern of the users of tram 55 (which will be converted during phase 2 of metro line 3) is that a metro has fewer stops and you have to go underground to take it, so the time you save with faster trains, you lose it by walking more
Otherwise pre metro is a good option to build a metro gradually if you don’t have all the funds available immediately. Just extend the tunnel bit by bit until it’s long enough to be converted into its own line
@@mu5gb 4-5 lines sharing the pre-metro tunnel does work for a start, when the demand is such that each of these lines operate at 10-12 min headways. Once the demand grows, you end up with problems because having 4 or 5 lines perfectly clocked at the tunnel entrance is very challenging. This is why STIB changed that initial service pattern to only 2 high-capacity tram lines (and partly a third one) in the tunnel, with provisions to ensure they clock well at the tunnel entrance (no street running, traffic light priority at junctions, etc.).
I feel like an LRT and a Brussels style Premetro are two quite different approaches. For the same problem (wanting a metro but not being able to afford it).
Brussels seems to have basically built half of a metro line with a (semi) temporary entrance and exit for existing tram routes along the corridor to make use of the tunnel until the need/ funding for the metro conversion was there. But the infrastructure was always sized to fit a metro.
Most LRTs don’t have this kind of oversized infrastructure. Quite contrary, the core of many LRT systems is where the cost cutting happened. There are some exceptions (Ottawa Line 1), but most LRT/ Stadtbahn systems have long (Seattle/ Frankfurt/ Stuttgart) or important (Portland/ Denver/ Bonn) sections which would need a complete rebuild to be able to support a full metro conversion. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s not going to have the same cost benefits as the premetro.
@@eechauch5522 The issue in the United States is a lot more political concerning public transportation. If transit systems were developed based on the longterm needs of the population, questions regarding BRT, LRT, Metro, etc. would be fairly easy to answer. Perhaps that is one of the issues in Brussels, and the reason for the premetro approach.
Thank you for making a piece on my literal workplace as a transit professional. A few other interesting plans are the airport tram line (that you briefly mentioned) and a few "internal" tram extensions that are being planned or prepared, like Belgica - North Station and beyond, the extension of T8 towards Bordet where it should meet up with M3, or a link in the south between the Altitude 100 area and Wiels (and beyond). And there's plenty more. A final project is the "re"introduction of the interurban trams, a line that partially existed pre 1968, Brussels - Londerzeel and on to Willebroek.
On Elisabeth/Simonis not having through running in a circle - this is actually good practice apparently. Pure circle lines have a habit of collecting delays throughout the day and it's better operationally to just have a terminus at either end. It's the same reason London's TfL decided to sever its circle line (which no longer runs in a proper circle).
Good that you mentioned the S-train/RER system - it really needs frequency and is a hugely underused resource at the moment.
It also needs much better marketing, it’s crazy the number of people who live right next to a station and are completely unaware of its existence or the lines it serves
The world's most used passenger railway is a pure circle line btw.
Also, company cars should be deemphasised
@@n.bastians8633 The Yamanote Line suffers from reliability issues! It's one of the less reliable lines in Tokyo. A 2019 article in Modern Railways says "Despite largely dedicated tracks, the very busy 34.5km Yamanote line which circles inner Tokyo experienced 10-minute delays on 30% of days"
@@mu5gb absolutely yes - and better fare integration with STIB as well. if you have a pass that includes it it's fine but for casual journeys for visitors you basically have to buy a ticket like you're getting a regular SNCB train
Back when i was studying in Brussels i remember the metros and trams being the best thing about living there. Really makes it easy as hell to get around
Also the fact that several lines bring you literally in the middle of the forest or corn fields, and that you can take your bike on them, makes for some great day trips
I think Brussels actually needs a Crossrail-like second railway connection, directly connecting Brussels South and the Schuman or Luxembourg station in the European quarter. Because also important things are a) the entire heavy rail system is run by national carrier SNCB/NMBS , so also the suburban lines. But NMBS already explicitly said that "the Brussels suburban lines are not their core business".. b) the INCREDIBLE bottleneck of the North-South tunnel. Some sources say this is the busiest rail line in the entire world (i think when using the metric: amount of total trains per day, divided by number of tracks which are only 3 in each direction). A minor incident on this section has consequences on the entire Belgian rail network. So the city actually needs infrastructure being able to reroute many of the commuter S-trains or even intercity and high speed trains via a new tunnel link. And i think this new project will be a necessary condition for high frequency rail of at least each 15 minutes.
And also, this would create a loop South-European quarter-Schaarbeek-Laken-West station-South. Interesting for a new metro project as well?
But this will be a megaproject anyway, because in order not to bulldoze entire city neighbourhoods, this tunnel will need to start beyond Brussels South, which means Brussels South will have to become a multilevel-station with all trains running on this line stopping underground.
Doubtful if there are chances this will become reality in the near future given the dreadful bloody red numbers the Belgian state's budget is currently in..
In general, Brussels transit is by far the best functioning of Belgium. STIB/MIVB definitely beats the mess Flander's transit carrier De Lijn is constantly making...
This is an interesting alternative to a potential HSR tunnel, to separate Eurostar and NS/NMBS Intercities. I share your fear however that any big infrastructure project will struggle to see the light of day in the coming years.
Actually a great idea! I live near Schuman and If I need to take a train in the South-Station I always will take the metro-line over train transit simply because the amount of connections I missed caused by the North-South tunnel.
Belgium needs suspended monorail systems in (sub)urban areas.
Reece, can you cover the Nuremberg U-bahn? Nuremberg is one of the smallest cities to have full-fledged heavy-rail metro system, and it is also interesting, why it was decided to build a proper metro here, whereas in Stuttgart, which is bigger in population, it was the stadtbahn system that was built.
@NotJustbikes coming quick in the comments, i can smell it. He hates BXL
The Dutch have been salty about Brussels since 1830
@@cactuspower6298He's not Dutch tho
@@BLACKSTA361he lives in the Netherlands
He did come again last winter and said the city improved a lot, but yeah, it’s surprising seeing a video that PRAISES Brussels for something
@@mu5gb that would be a great vid, he hated the city because we literally have a word for doing the thing he hates, "Brusselization".
100% agree More praise for Brussels!!
Actually, automation and platform screen doors aren’t long term plans. PSDs will be retrofitted in three stations in 2025, and line1/5 signaling system was designed for driverless operation, which will eventually happen once all stations are equipped with PSDs.
Line 3 is planned to be automated and have PSDs when construction begins on the northern tunnel.
Hello, what is the source of this information ?
Yes what is your source? I'm quite doubtful about platform screen doors anywhere in 2025.
@@fplancke3336 the STIB announced in 2022 that they will retrofit PSDs at Erasme/Erasmus, Eddy Merckx and CERIA/COOVI stations as a pilot project in late 2025.
Let'sgoo my Hometown ! Thanks RMTransit !
Finally a video over public transport of my city. Nice work and quite complete.
Great job!
Thank you
Perfect timing, it's car free Sunday in Brussels tomorrow
And the Toots Thielmans station can be visited this sunday for the "Car Free Day" 😁
As a Belgian thank you for this video. The internet decided to hate Brussels, so i think its refreshing to watch a positive video about my capital city.
The infrequent S-trains are indeed a total nightmare. My girlfriend had to commute to work from Leuven to Linkebeek every day, and if she missed her connection in Brussels south (which happens all the time), she got stuck for an hour.
I had to commute from Leuven all the way to Bruges for a time, and it was far easier than just commuting to Linkebeek because of this (which is completely crazy).
@@tijljappens7953 This has à simple explanation: in the first case you remain in the Flanders region while in the second case you have to go through the Brussels region. Belgium as a whole suffers a lot from regional conflicts.
@@BelgianSquirrel
Nah because that is the train company that is nationalized so it doesn't have anything to do with the region.
@@Dimitrovski3007 My understanding is that even though SNCB/NMVB is federal, regional competition plays an outsized role in the setup of its network - especially wrt commuting from Flanders to Brussels. But I have no inside knowledge.If that's your case, please enlighten us
One thing which needs to be pointed out : the Brussels tramways are narrow-body (but standard gauge). For the same length, they carry 20% less passengers than tramways in France or Luxemburg.
Also, they are currently performing signaling works on the M1, in order to make possible a future increase in frequency.
You could also have explained why there is no North-South metro network : the main municipalities always refused to have this thing built on their territory... and now their inhabitants regret it. Tramways and buses are not sufficient to cover their needs. M3 will improve this to the north (someday), but not to the south (maybe 22nd century).
Buses have improved a lot too, now we have i think 12 lines served by frequent articulated buses, compared to 2 before. I can feel the difference in my travels :)
Thank you for covering my City
Greetings from 🇧🇪
I remember getting around the city easily when I visited in 2018 but I ran into the worst people on the system. While I was in a busy tram, someone reached into my coat pocket, took my phone and ran. Another time, there was someone intent on coughing on me and moved closer when I moved away. Maybe I'll have better luck in the future if I ever go back, with everything in inside pockets.
@@Vortexcube I live in Brussels and the security is bad in pretty much every transit system. Some lines are known to be the hotspots of pickpockets, especially on the buses like the line 71. The big stations like Brussels Midi or Brussels Noord can be intimidating, especially when there's not many people inside the stations at the end of the day. There will be a police station inside of Brussels Midi because of the increasing demand by the locals. Everyone is insisting on this problem but the politicians don't care, they don't use public transportation anyway. I wished my city was way stricter on these criminals, they have the cameras to see them properly.
yea you can have the best trains and trams but nobody wants to take them if its full of dangerous people
the RER project, while it has been massively delayed many times already, is quite a massive project for a small country like Belgium. They have rebuilt dozens of stations to accommodate the 4 tracks (rather than 2 previously), and that's not only in Brussels, it almost throughout the whole country. Each station having its own problems, being in urban areas. The project was put to a stop between 2008 and roughly 2020, I don't really know why to be honest. But since 2020 they have made some great progress. Hopefully the Louvain-la-Neuve - Brussels RER will be finished in the next few months.
Anyway, great video !
There was a classic Belgian conflict over the allocation of funds between Wallonia and Flanders; apparently, funding used to be distributed 60/40 between Flanders and Wallonia, and while there was some funding available to finish one of lines to the south, using it would upset the 60/40 allocation leading to several years of delay. In this period finances were generally tight, but the outgoing government has put significantly more money in rail. Let's hope that the new coalition does not scrap all of this.
@@Giruno56 right, a classic Belgian story I guess hahah. Yeah I really hope so too... the TEC (Walloon public transport) has made some huge improvements since 2020 as well. I hope the government won't cut the funds to public transport, but I'm not very optimistic about that... They will probably try and privatise the SNCB/NMBS. I'm really sad those right wing parties scored so high in Belgium, let alone in wallonia, which was, until now, spared by that.
@@Mathieu-x7cjust look at the way they stopped the tram projects in Liege (and the accompanying commentary)…
Premetros were actually inspired by Germany’s stadtbahns. I’m surprised you didn’t make that comparison considering how you’ve praised them in the past.
For Charleroi it is. But for Brussels there are many conceptual differences between the german Stadtbahn concept, the Brussels premetro concept and the Antwerp premetro concept (which also differ on multiple design characteristics)
Watching this while getting ready to enjoy free public transport on Brussels Car Free day, nice timing! 😊
I'm suprised how well you know the subject. This is very impressive.
I find it hilarious that belgium has not one but two metro systems where trains switch from LHD to RHD partway through a route. Unfortunately, the line in Charleroi with the switch never opened.
Visited Brussels this year and really enjoyed their pre-metro (we stayed right near Bourse station).
I rode the Brussels Metro in 2012. Definitely an ODD mix of mid to late 20th Century design and 21st Century modern aesthetic. I regret not taking more photos of it.
It's still there ;-) There is also a book "Art dans le métro" which explains everything. 2% of station construction budget had to be allocated to art, and this is something nobody regrets, particularily after having visited other underground transport systems.
Yeah in NYC we have something similar and it definitely helps humanize it a little bit
As someone who uses the system on a daily-basis, the BXLs public transport has extremely bad connections anywhere but the centre. If you live outside of the loop, you have to rely on slow buses, trams and poorly thought connections. Plus transport from Flanders operate basically inside of the city centre on major roads, and you can't use the STIB tickets/monthly ticket on such buses. This severely limits cross-neighbourhood travel (which should be 15-30 mins, not 45-60 min via the centre).
Thank you, it's always great to hear more about Brussels!
6:17 the east west pre metro was opened in the 1960s ; it was the full metro that was opened in the mid 1970s.
I have lived for my whole life 20km away from Brussels, right next to a future RER station, and it's good for once to hear positivity about Belgian transit. People LOVE to complain and there are issues, but we are quite lucky honestly. Also you talking about the RER and the M3 line was nice because everybody only ever talks about the problems with these projects (they are absolutely big messes that are massively late and over budget) without mentioning how awesome and worth it they are
I always find the S-train branding funny as they haven't really done anything to deserve that title. Unlike in Germany or France where they were specifically constructed to move large volumes of people efficiently, here they're just the remnants of the old heavy rail network with a lick of new paint. It's run by the national railway service and not the local transit agency, which should say enough.
They've done some things. As the video says the Schumann-Josaphat connection, several tiny local stations opened along existing lines, and they are doubling up some railways to the city. However, the investments dried up to really make it a properly functioning system. Most of the lines still pass the north-south tunnel which limits the frequencies that can be acquired, and subsequently they gave up on opening new stations and it's in this limbo status. Sad, because I think there is still a lot of untapped potential.
Most German S-Bahn systems are run by DB, and the others by private train operators, none are run by public local transit operators. They are just integrated really well into the local fare structure.
That said: the frequency is the main problem. NMBS uses them to ferry people into or out of the city, people needing mobility within the city are still less of an afterthought when it comes to scheduling, stop frequency, and eas if ticketing
@@justusrometh8530 Yes, well said. Thanks for the correction.
Thanks for covering my home city! Timing isn't great, today and tomorrow are literally the last days of operation of tram 3, because with the opening of the new tracks to Neder-Over-Heembeek in the North, they are reorganising the network, with a new line 10 taking over the bulk of the current line 3 (except the northern branch to Esplanade, which will be taken over by a new tram line over existing tracks to the East of the city.) The second ring line will most likely not be a metro, but will stay a tram with short tunnels left and right.
You clearly knew about the extension to the Airport, but it seems to have been removed from the script later. Oh, well.
About to move to Brussels from the US, in less than 2 weeks. What great timing!!! Even with its problems, I am in love with the transit system in Brussels and Belgium :)
At last the Brussel Pré-métro, it was a personnal request of mine because of the concept to build underground tram tunnel before switching to a Metro instead. i.e Cost cutting or doubling the trouble or long term vision.
Great video as always. The light rail makes me think of the possibilities with some of Chicago's north-south corridors. Would love to see a video from you dedicated to the proposed and failed BRT along Chicago's Ashland Ave and how some type of rail might have been a better option.
7:43 fun fact, the wide roadway was in part a railway up until the 1950s, the Brussels to Tervuren railway.
Wow! This makes me want to revisit Brussels.
As a brussels resident frequent user of the system i can say you did an incredible job!
I just got home from brussels and the fries with mayo in a cone are the greatest thing ever conceived. period. no ifs ands or buts.
I think there is one big elephant in the room in transit in Brussels, namely that the trains are run by the national company and the STIB/MIVB do not run any. This leads to the train company focusing pretty much exclusively on regional, intercity and international lines and only doing suburban or city lines as an afterthought. The train company would be perfectly happy ignoring Brussels if it wasn’t so central.
I lived in a number of areas in the city and you’d have these beautiful rail lines, sometimes 4 lines, electrified, perfect, which could connect a lot of the outer parts of town… running 2 trains per hour. Because they are trains set up to go to some small village out in the countryside, even though there are tons of people close by without a station, or having a station but low frequency or little choice in destinations, ending up having to take slow buses, and frequently the car
Thanks for mentioning my city!
The Brussels tram and metro network did benefit from a lot of investments over the last years. It is not just the larger projects and new trains, but also the work thas been done to make the network more fluid and comfortable. The metro stations did get quite some renovation projects, but not all or all parts have been tackled yet.
HOWEVER … there is a serious ‘double trouble’ :
- the Brussels region is living way above what it can really afford financially. The debt is huge, the deficit too. Traditionally the Brussels region likes to look to the national government, but … that is not likely to help from now on. The elections of june 2024 did not uet lead to a new Belgian federal government, but the ongoing talks point to a centre right government that wants to have a stricter budget, and the federal politicians are not very Brussels-minded.
- the metro line 3 is projected to go very serious above budget. Since no actual work started on the stretch north of the North station, this part of the project risks to be cancelled. There is definitely a good case for this project, that will run close to the NATO headquarters. But f the budget just isn.t there, better stop in time. Does this mean that the central section of the metro line 3 is doing better ? No, absolutely not. Just north of the Brussels South station the line was supposed to use a new tunnel under anlarge historical building. Not a very nice building, but still, it is protected. And … the soil there is way to swampy. When the tunnelbuilders poored concrete into holes the dug out to create support colums, under the basement of the building, the concrete just vanished rapidly and in large quantities, also flowing to nearby areas where the drilling was not done uet, so now the drilling will have to go through the recently poored and drifting away concrete. There is no decent solution for this problem. The latest idea is to completely evacuate the building, completely gut it from the inside, try and get a metro line underneath, and then rebuild the inside of the large multistorey building. This is going to cost many hunderds of millions of euros, without a guarantee it will work, and with more technical and financial risks. The people having declared the soil there suitable clearly did a bad job, and the tragedy is that they were also involved in declaring the soil of the northern stretch suitable. Lets hope …
Financial headwinds are ahead for Brussels.
I don't think the North - South section will be cancelled, but the parts beyond are in a lot of trouble. Brussels does need more metro, but if the SmartMove tolls are not levied, I don't see how it could be funded anytime soon. Yes, the federal government ought to step in, but spending such a large sum of money (perhaps more than 4 billion) might nonetheless strand. The frequent case of tran expansion first becomes more appealing every time...
@@Giruno56Ixelles could certainly use a metro…
Great video! When you said the thing about turning loops for trams I thought about my city, Rotterdam, where the tramnetwork is pretty old fashioned compared to Brussels. Maybe you can do a video about it someday!
Congratulations on your video, but I'm sorry about your timing! 😛
In two days time, this video will already be outdated, as tram 3, now going from Esplanade via Brussels North to Churchill will cease existing, becoming line 35 from Esplanade towards Meiser and Weldoeners/Bienfaiteurs. In lieu of tram 3, tram 10 which had its royal inauguration today with many festivities in Neder-over-Heembeek will be running from the Military Hospital in the North of Brussels on a completely new route into Heembeek, and from there as line 3 to Churchill via the North station.
Yep, came here to say the same.
Great video! Would love to see an video on Charleroi and its premetro system both planned, built but not opened and opened stations... Sad that one city and its metro systems are so successful while a nearby one was hit hard by industrial decline and has never recovered since...
In Charleroi, the works to put into operation the last strecth built but never operated did start a few months ago. In 2 years or so, the full system will be operated !
Liège tram is more interesting imo
2 centuries maybe
People who invented poutine have no right calling anyone out for mayo on fries 😉
Awesome video! One detail: you have your first train route overview map overlayed with links to other videos....
Little Belgium puts all U S cities to shame with the extensive coordinated network of rail plus unbelievable stations and train cars. Im speechless. The best is the rail overpass directly over another Metro station. How was that built?
With a lot of money, and a shameful lack of awareness for leaking problems :D
I very much appreciate Brussels' transit system, as it lets you quickly and efficiently get to all the wonderful places that are not Brussels.
as someone living in the east-northern part of brussels i can't wait for M3 because it takes me about one hour to reach the center despite it being only 6km away from my house.... god thanks the S trains save me a lot of time
As if Brussels wasn't already on my bucket list!
You have to do the complex and hybrid tram network of The Hague. The Hague tram (HTM) runs both at street level, underground and above ground. There are underground and above ground tram stops, which are more like metro stations. What is special is that The Hague also has a light rail network (RandstadRail) that connects the suburbs and satellite cities. These light rail vehicles also use the tram network of The Hague. Then The Hague is also connected to a metro line (E) to Rotterdam (RET) here too the light rail vehicles (RandstadRail) run on the same metro track of the (RET) and they also share the platforms.
You should visit Budapest, it has an excellent public transit system - when it's not flooded...
You should do Belgrade, Serbia.
How does work a city with 2 million people and no metro.
How it had perfectly located rail station, only for it to be relocated 5km from city center and make way for Dubai style high raise.
I used to visit BRU a lot in the 2000s. The network is not that legible for visitors (a feature common to bus/tram cities in contrast to mero/rail cities). Eurocrats used to get around by sharing secret transit hacks e.g. how to get to the EU quarter from Midi via regional train.
there is also brussel-schuman and brussel-luxemburg, for trains to luxembourg. there also are 2 small stations between south and north stations, brussel-congres and brussel-kapellekerk
A little fun fact about the line numbers. Until 2009 , they were 3 metro lines instead of 4.
Line 1a connected Roi Baudoin to Herrmann-Debroux (a mix of metro 5 and 6 of today), line 1b connected Erasmus to Stockel (like an extension of metro 1 to Erasmus) and finaly the metro line 2 that connected Delacroix to Elisabeth. In 2009, no stations was added, just a big lines reorganisation.
Toronto should look to Brussels for inspiration on how to design a forward-thinking transit system. Toronto and Ontario politicians have always chosen to build the megaprojects of today over the potential rapid transit expansion of tomorrow. One reason for this "all or nothing" approach to transit is because, in the eyes of North American politicians, cars and roads are prioritized above trains and deserve all the time in the world, while transit has to be built in megaprojects if it is ever to succeed.
Barely even mentioned the SBahn /RER, would’ve been neat to see what lines it has as well.
I loved the pre-metro lines. Also bombardier rolling stock ❤
Before the reconfiguration of the metro lines, they also operated under different numbers (1A became 5, 1B became 1). And caused some controversy if i can remember correctly. I'm happy i ride the tram 39 nearly daily as it is in fact a beautiful line, joining the beautiful tintin themed Stokkel
They'll also have a new pretty long tramline all the way from Brussels to Willebroek.
But they didn't even start working on it yet as of now.
Also, Antwerp has a pretty big tram/pre-Metro network with lots of underground trams going underneath the whole city and the "Schelde"
00:55 and between london and Koln, which was a big deal in the medieval, that's why Brussels is situated there
The south station is called Bruxelles Midi in French, which can be confusing if you don't speak French. It sort of sounds like "middle". Everything in Brussels is AT LEAST bilingual. Many towns (and railway stations) in Belgium have very different names in the two most common languages. It is all good fun in times of peace.
The term RER has been imported to Belgium from abroad, I suppose largely because of the RER network of Paris. So the term is used since 20 years for the improved commuter rail service aroind Brussels. The lines get a ‘S’ logo and number.
But then the Belgian railway started to use the same terminology for trains around Antwerp and Liege too. Again, mainly a rebranding of existing services, but in Liege a short new line actually opened, on tracks previously used for the heavy steel industry.
Omg, I never expected you to make a video about Brussels lol.
I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but it would be interesting to see a video about the Porto metro.
The system is a bit of a combination of light rail, metro and suburban rail, with an S-Bahn adjacent layout.
It's also the first European metro to use Chinese trains.
Boston had visions of converting portions of the Green Line trolley tunnels to full metro. Kenmore Station was built with 4 tracks, 2 platforms. The innermost tracks had trestles built above a pit for the existing streetcars, that could be removed if ever converted to full metro. It was conceived that the Boston College line would be extended as a subway under Commonwealth Ave westbound from Kenmore. In fact, tunnel sidewalls were extended to a point beyond Kenmore for that purpose. The Green Line streetcar branch inbound from Brookline would have passengers transfer at Kenmore to this new metro, and the trolleys would then take an underground loop to head back out to Beacon Street. Also, the Huntington Ave. trolley line had a trestle built at the portal to the street, with the same tunnel sidewalls continuing under the avenue with the same idea for future metro conversion.
Obviously, nothing happened. When the Boeing-Vertol LRVs arrived in the mid-1970s it was discovered that they were too heavy for the trestles at Kenmore and Huntington Ave., so they were removed and the pits filled in. Of course, major retrofits of the ancient Green Line tunnels would have been necessary for this "pre-metro" to full subway. What might have been, though.
Finally finally 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
I’ve got to visit Brussels earlier this year while I was vacationing in Paris. I took the EuroStar high speed train there and it was awesome! I’m from New York City born and raised and we don’t have high speed rail here in the U.S. Acela doesn’t hit 189MPH/300KPH like EuroStar does. I got to hangout in Brussels for about 7-8 hours before returning back to the Paris the same day and visited some landmarks which thanks to their subway system was absolutely possible and a great experience. I love the fact they have a day unlimited pass for I think it was 8 euros 💶 that I paid for. Paris doesn’t have that option for unlimited day passes. Shout out to Belgium 🇧🇪 🫶🏼
My dream video about my city, thank you RMTransit ! 🥹😍
Great video!
Very happy to see a video from my adopted home. Hanover is next, right? 😍
There were excellent comments on what the S-Train system is lacking, so im not gonna add to them, but one thing you did not mention is that the neighbourhoods to the South East (Elsene/Ixelles and Uccle) are severely underserved by rail, with no immediate plans to rectify that, unfortunately…
Forgot to mention: why mention Eurostar but not ICE stops/ connections to Germany/the NL?
You missed one important thing: due to Brussels being it's own region (Brussels-Capital Region) surrounded by the Flemish region, it's impossible for the metro to extend out its borders. Even though it would be so useful to extend just a few kms so it would reach outside of the main highway (the R0). Only one metro goes just beyond the R0 because only there is the R0 in the brussels region.
The fact that you didn't include the new tram line 10 that opened the day of the upload is unfortunate. Now the video is already outdated. 😅 Still free engagement I guess.
And now the truth.. as local, I can tell you very little further large-scale development will take place from here, since the city is heavily indebted and by no means hosts an economy (let alone the political stability to boost one) that can support any such ambitous growth as the future projects mentioned in the video..
Well metro line 3 is ongoing, but that one alone will put us in debt for a very, very long time. The RER project is also still going, although slowly
Most expansions will probably happen outside Brussels I think. That’s where the money is, and also where public transport is currently the most lacking. The previous Flemish government was pretty interested in better connecting Brussels to the Rand, but we’ll have to see what the next one thinks
At least phase 1 of metro 3 will be built, imo, they have progressed too far to change course, but the solutions at Palais du Midi/Zuidpaleis will be costly and are contested. They are also running into some engineering issues near Brussels North station. Phase 2... I'm still in favour, but don't see it happening anytime soon. It was planned for between 2030 and 2035, even if I am still convinced that they will have to, sooner or later.
I'm even less optimistic about developments around Brussels, Vlaanderen may have more money, they have almost no interest in public transportation, and have been starving their public transport operator De Lijn for years, now. Frankly, in spite of the lack of money, I'm still more hopeful about Brussels public transport projects going ahead, because even the Liberal parties here are convinced of their need to keep the city moving.
12:29 Station name?
Schuman